


Prove me wrong

by doomed_spectacles



Category: Broadchurch
Genre: F/M, Ficlet, Friendship, Gen, Missing Scene, Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-10-02 18:00:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20381311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doomed_spectacles/pseuds/doomed_spectacles
Summary: "It might actually kill you, after all," she said. She snuck a sideways glance at him. "To admit I'm right."Ellie has something to say. She doesn't realize it but Hardy listens. He'd heard her back then, too.





	Prove me wrong

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place directly before episode 4 of season 3, prior to Trish re-visiting Axehampton.
> 
> References the end of season 2, when Miller tells Hardy "we are not all alone."
> 
> Just a small snippet of dialogue I imagined. Ellie's so determined not to let the actions of the men around her define how she sees people, and I admire her so much for it.

"Okay, so Beth will drive you and we'll meet you there. She'll be with you the entire time, right Beth?"

"Yes, I'll stay at close as you need me to." Beth smiled at Trish. They sat next to each other on Trish's couch. Ellie perched across from them on an armchair while Hardy stood behind her, arms crossed.

"Why don't you take these to the kitchen, sir?" Ellie asked, without looking at him. He nodded and gathered their mugs.

Ellie leaned forward and put her elbows on her knees. She looked at Trish anxiously. "Trish, I just wanted to say before we go, well..." She paused and looked down at her feet for a moment before continuing. "It's bollocks that your life got thrown off course because of the decision this person made. Absolute rubbish. You didn't choose to be here, dealing with this. He made that choice for you when he attacked you and it's not fair at all."

Beth and Trish both nodded.

"But you can't change it. I wish you could but you can't go back. All you can change now is who you become." Ellie looked up and her eyes were bright. "So do you shut down? Close off? Or do you reach out and have faith that there are still people in this world worthy of your trust."

Beth reached for Trish's hand across the couch and Trish took it. Ellie took a deep breath.

"That's what I believe, Trish. That even when your life has been broken to pieces, there are still people out there who are trying their best to do right by you. It's so easy to close yourself off from them. I know how tempting it is to do that." Ellie clasped her hands together in her lap. She wiped away a tear.

The women were silent for a few moments, together. None of them heard Hardy coming to stand against the door frame, out of sight.

"You're not alone, Trish. None of us are. That's all I wanted to say. You've got Beth and me, and even Hardy, difficult as he may be." Ellie released her breath and looked up.

"Thank you, Ellie," Trish said. "I just want you to find him."

"We will."

Beth wiped her eyes and said, "Jeez El, you made me cry a bit."

Ellie smiled and sniffed. "Sorry for that!" She stood up and fished a tissue out of her purse. "Don't tell Hardy, he hates it when I cry in front of him." 

Beth and Trish stood and shared a look.

"Sir, are you ready to go?" Ellie called out as they made their way towards the door. Hardy silently followed the women out to Miller's car. 

"Alright, we'll see you there," Ellie said. She gave Trish and Beth an encouraging smile and got into the driver's seat.

"Miller."

"Yeah?" She started the car.

He sighed. "I heard what you said."

"Oh _bloody hell_, that was a private conversation!" She smacked him on the arm. Her voice got louder and higher. "You weren't to hear it!" 

"I'd have known you were crying anyway," he protested, "your eyes get all red and you think I don't see it but I do."

"Well thanks, that's great to hear. Very humiliating. Will you let me drive please?" She pulled out of Trish's driveway and into the neighborhood streets. "You're impossible, you know that."

"Miller," he said again, insistent.

She turned onto the country road that would take them to Axehampton.

"Don't," she said, not looking at him. "Don't even start because I don't want to hear you tell me I'm wrong."

"Miller-"

"I already know what you think. _We're all alone._ You said it two years ago and I didn't agree then and I don't now. So please, just don't."

They sat in silence for a moment as she drove. He sighed.

"You asked why I came back here. What do you think it is, then."

"You said yourself, to give Daisy a fresh start."

"Don't be _daft_, Miller. We could've started over anywhere," he said. "But we came _here_, of all the bloody towns in all the world." He gestured vaguely with his hands, even though they were moving away from Broadchurch. "Here. The place that damn near killed me."

"Why, then?" she asked. "To torture me? Cuz you do a right good job of it."

"Oh for the love of- don't make me _say_ it, Miller. Just drive the car."

"Fine."

He looked out the window as the scenery changed the closer they got to the estate.

"It might actually kill you, after all," she said. She snuck a sideways glance at him. "To admit I'm right."

He groaned and leaned his head back against the headrest. She stared straight ahead and a small smile crept across her face.

**Author's Note:**

> [@doomed-spectacles on Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/doomed-spectacles) \- say hi if you like


End file.
